When Alaska became part of the United States in
1867, there was no provision in the law for private ownership in the
new territory, except for the private individual property holders who
had obtained written title to the land under the Russians. "Uncivilized" tribes (which included all but the acculturated Natives
who had accepted the Russian Orthodox religion) were to be treated
like Indians in the lower United States, which meant they had claim
to their ancestral lands but no citizenship rights. "Civilized"
tribes were to be given the rights and citizenship of other
Americans. In practice, however, the United States government and new
residents to the territory treated all Alaska Natives as
"uncivilized" tribes.

The Organic Act of 1884 allowed non-Natives to
own mining sites, as long as they were not in areas of use or
occupation by Natives. Subsequent laws (after the turn of the
century) allowed for Alaska Natives to obtain restricted title to
some ancestral lands. (One example of the restrictions placed on the
title was that the Native owners did not have the right to sell the
land without permission of the federal government.) Various other
laws allowed non-Natives to homestead large areas of land, provided
they surveyed and worked it.

By the time of statehood (1959) most of the
land in Alaska was claimed by the federal government, with a small
amount centered around the cities being owned by individuals, almost
all of whom were non-Natives. Yet, the rights of Alaska Natives to
their ancestral lands had been acknowledged in a number of legal
documents from the time of the purchase. The message in all the
documents was that Alaska Natives own their own land, but that it is
up to future generations to decide how they would get title to it.
Exactly which lands were the ancestral lands had not been addressed
until the 1900s when, bit by bit, Natives began to lay claim to
portions of the land in the state.

Then, because of a growing non-Native
population in Alaska, the discovery of a vast oil field on the North
Slope, and increasing demands for that oil in the lower 48, the
question of "who owns Alaska" became a national issue in
1971.

TEACHING ANCSA

As you begin this unit on the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act in your class you should:

1) Think creatively and encourage
your students to do the same. ANCSA is unique worldwide both for
its magnitude and for the use of corporate structure for
management of the lands and monies paid. Studying ANCSA in the
classroom provides an opportunity to explore hypothetical designs
and situations, and to develop skills in problem
solving.

2) Stimulate your students' academic
sophistication. These issues are difficult. Corporation
structure is abstract to many adults; much less secondary
students. Encourage the students to grasp the relevance and
sophistication of the subject matter.

3) Not become intimidated because you are
not an expert on ANCSA. Begin by reading the background
information provided and continue to learn as you explore the
topic with your students. Throughout the semester, address the
current issues on ANCSA as they appear in the paper. Encourage
students to share personal experiences relating to corporations,
business and management with the class and relate them to your
study of ANCSA.

Unit: Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act

Activity: Predicting

1. Read the statements below and take a guess
at the answer before studying the unit.

2. If you think the answer is yes, then write
yes in the BEFORE column. If you think the answer is no, then write
no in the BEFORE column.

3. After studying the unit, you may change the
answers by writing the new response in the AFTER Column i£ the
answer is different from your prediction.

BEFORE

AFTER

_______

_______

1. All Alaska Natives are of the same
ethnic origin.

_______

_______

2. Alaskan Athabascan Indians
are of the same language family as the Navajos and
Apaches.

_______

_______

3. The United States Federal
Government has always treated American Indians
uniquely.

_______

_______

4. American Indians have been
citizens of the United States since George Washington's
time.

_______

_______

5. The United States acquired
Alaska from England after the Revolutionary War.

_______

_______

6. The 1880 discovery of gold
in Juneau caused the formation of civil government in
Alaska.

_______

_______

7. Alaska's political status
under United States rule can be divided into four (4)
periods: possession district, territory and
state.

_______

_______

8. Three industries which have
effected Alaska are hunting fishing and tourism.

_______

_______

9. The Alaska Native Land
Claims Movement reached its peak in the late1960's and early
1970's.

_______

_______

10. The Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President
Richard Nixon.

_______

_______

11. The Alaska National
Interest Lands Conversation Act (ANILCA), also known as D-2,
is a direct result of ANCSA.

LAND OWNERSHIP ATTITUDES

An Eastern Worldview:
American Indian/Alaskan Native

A Western Worldview:
European Immigrants/Settlers in U.S.

Group Emphasis

Individual Emphasis

Present and Past
Orientation

Future Orientation

Time: Always With Us

Time- Use Every Minute

Age

Youth

Cooperation

Competition

Harmony with Nature

Conquest Over Nature

Giving-Sharing

Taking-Saving

Pragmatic

Theoretical

Mystical

Skeptical

Patience

Aggressive

Listening Skills learned first

Verbal Skills learned first

Religion: A Way of Life

Religion: Segment of Life

Should appear modest

Should put one's best foot
forward

Oral

Written

Use of land

Ownership of land

As a part of Nature, they cannot own
any other part of it, though sole rights of use

As the most important things on earth
for whom all Nature was made, it is theirs to do with as
they see they may have fit

Desired Student Outcome: Students will gain
historical point of view on racial discrimination.

Strategies: Read this account aloud or listen
to the tape.

(Available at Alaska Native Education
library)

This is a personal account by an
American colonist who was alive 200 years ago. It describes how
some early settlers regarded Indians.

THE ANIMALS, VULGARLY CALLED INDIANS
-Hugh Henry Brackenridge

With the narrative enclosed, I subjoin
some observations with regard to the animals, vulgarly called
Indians. It is not my intention to write any labored essay; for at
so great a distance from the city, and so long unaccustomed to
write, I have scarcely resolution to put pen to paper. Having an
opportunity to know something of the character of this race of
men, from the deeds they penetrate daily round me, I think proper
to say something on the subject. Indeed, several years ago, and
before I left your city, I had thought different from some others
with respect to the right of soil, and the propriety of forming
treaties and making peace with them.

In the United States Magazine in the year
1777, I published a dissertation denying them to have a right in
the soil. I perceive a writer in your very elegant and useful
paper, has taken up the same subject, under the signature of "Caractacus," and
unanswerably shown, that their claim to the extensive countries of America,
is wild and inadmissible. I will
take the liberty in this place, to pursue this subject a
little.

On what is their claim founded?-Occupancy. A
wild Indian with his skin painted red, and a feather through his
nose, has set his foot on the broad continent of North and South
America; a second wild Indian with his ears cut in ringlets, or
his nose slit like a swine or a malefactor, also sets his foot on
the same extensive tract of soil. Let the first Indian make a talk
to his a brother, and bid him take his foot off the continent, for
he being first upon it, had occupied the whole, to kill buffaloes,
and tall elks with long horns. This claim in the reasoning of some
men would be just, and the second savage ought to depart in his
canoe, and seek a continent where no prior occupant claimed the
soil. Is this claim of occupancy of a very early date? When Noah's
three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, went out to the three quarters
of the old world, Ham to Africa, Shem to Asia, Japhet to Europe,
did each claim a quarter of the world for his residence? Suppose
Ham to have spent his time fishing or gathering oysters in the Red
Sea, never once stretching his leg in a long walk to see his vast
dominions, from the mouth of the Nile, across the mountains of
Ethiopia and the river Niger to the Cape of Good Hope, where the
Hottentots, a cleanly people, now stay; or supposing him, like a
Scots peddler, to have traveled over many thousand leagues of that
country; would this give him a right to the soil? In the opinion
of some men it would establish an exclusive right. Let a man in
more modern times take a journey or voyage like Patrick Kennedy
and others to the heads of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers,
would he gain a right ever- after to exclude all persons from
drinking the waters of these streams? Might not a second Adam make
a talk to them and say, is the whole of this water necessary to
allay your thirst, and may I also drink of it?

The whole of this earth was given to man,
and all descendants of Adam have a right to share it equally.
There is no right of primogeniture in the laws of nature and or
nations. There is reason that a tall man, such as the chaplain in
the American army we call the High Priest, should have a large
spot of ground to stretch himself upon; or that a man with a big
belly, like a goodly alderman of London, should have a larger
garden to produce beans and cabbage for his appetite, but that an
agile, nimble runner, like an Indian called the Big Cat, at Fort
Pitt, should have more than his neighbors, because he has traveled
a great space, I can see no reason.

I have conversed with some persons and found
their mistakes on this subject, to arise form a view of claims by
individuals in a state of society, from holding a greater
proportion of the soil than others; but this is according to the
laws to which they have consented; an individual holding one acre,
cannot encroach on him who has a thousand, because he is bound by
the law which secures property in an unequal manner. this is the
municipal law of the state under which he lives. The member of a
distant society is not excluded by the laws from a right to the
soil. He claims under the general law of nature, which gives a
right, equally to all, to so much of the soil as is necessary for
subsistence. Should a German from the closely populated country of
the Rhine, come into Pennsylvania, more thinly peopled, he would
be justifiable in demanding a settlement, though his personal
force would not be sufficient to effect it. It may be said that
the cultivation or melioration of the earth, gives a property in
it. No-if an individual has engrossed more than is necessary to
produce grain for him to live upon, his useless gardens, fields
and pleasure walks, may be seized upon by the person who, not
finding convenient ground elsewhere, choose to till them for his
support.

It is a usual way of destroying an opinion
by pursuing it to its consequence. In the present case we may say,
that if the visiting one acre of ground could give a right to it,
the visiting of a million would give a right on the same
principle; and thus a few surly ill nature men, might in the
earlier ages have excluded half the human race from a settlement,
or should any have fixed themselves on a territory, visited before
they had set a foot on it, they must be considered invaders of the
right of others.

It is said that an individual, building a
house or fabricating a machine has an exclusive right to it, and
why not those improve the earth? I would say, should man build
houses on a greater part of the soil, than falls to his share, I
would, in a state of nature, take away a proportion of the soil
and the houses from him, but a machine or any work of art, does
not lessen the means of subsistence to the human race, which an
extensive occupation of the soil does.

Claims founded on the first discovery of
soil are futile. When gold, jewels, manufactures, or any work of
men's hands is lost, the finder is entitled to some reward, chat
is, he has some claims on the thing found, for a share of
it.

When by industry or the exercise of genius,
something unusual is invented in medicine or in other matters, the
author doubtless has a claim to an exclusive profit by it, but who
will say the soil is lost, or that any one can found a claim by
discovering it. The earth with its woods and rivers still exist,
and the only advantage I would allow to any individual for having
cast his eye first on any particular part of it, is the privilege
of making the first choice of situation. I would think the man a
fool and unjust, who would exclude me from drinking the waters of
the Mississippi river, because he had first seen it. He would be
equally so who would exclude me from settling in the country west
of the Ohio, because in chasing a buffalo he had been first over
it.

The idea of an exclusive right to the soil
in the natives had its origin in the policy of the first
discoverers, the kings of Europe. Should they deny the right of
the natives from their first treading on the continent, they would
take away the right of discovery in themselves, by sailing on the
coast. As the vestige of the moccasin in one case gave a right, so
the cruise in the other was the foundation of a claim.

Those who under these kings, derived grants
were led to countenance the idea, for otherwise why should kings
grant or they hold extensive tracts of country. Men become
enslaved to an opinion that has been long entertained. Hence it is
that many wise and good men will talk of the right of savages to
immense tracts or soil.

What use do these ring, streaked, spotted
and speckled cattle make of the soil? Do they till it? Revelation
said to man, "Thou shalt till the ground." This alone is human
life. It is favorable to population, to science, to the
information of a human mind in the worship of God. Warburton has
well said, that before you can make an Indian a christian you must
teach him agriculture and reduce him to a civilized life. To live
by tilling is more humano, by hunting is more bestiarum. I would
as soon admit a right in the buffalo to grant lands, as in
Killbuck, the Big Cat, the Big Dog, or any or the ragged wretches
that are called chiefs and sachems. 'What. would you think or
going to a big lick or place where the beasts collect to lick
saline nitrous earth and water, and addressing yourself to a great
buffalo to grant you 'land? It is true he could not make the mark
or the stone or the mountain reindeer, but he could set his cloven
foot to the instrument like the great Ottomon, the father of the
Turks, when he put his signature to an instrument, he put his
large hand and spreading fingers in the ink and set his mark to
the parchment. To see how far the folly of some would go, I had
once a thought of supplicating some of the great elks or buffaloes
that run through the woods, to make me a grant of a hundred
thousand acres of land and prove he had brushed the weeds with
this tail, and run fifty miles.

I wonder if Congress or the different States
would recognize the claim? I am so far from thinking the Indians
have a right to the soil, that not having made a better use of it
for many hundred years, I conceive they have forfeited all
pretense to claim, and ought to be driven from it.

With regard to forming treaties or making
peace with this race, there are many ideas:

They have the shapes of men and may be of
the human species, but certainly in their present state they
approach nearer the character of Devils; take and Indian, is there
any faith in him? Can you bind him by favors? Can you trust his
word or confide in his promise? When he makes war upon you, when
he takes you prisoner and has you in his power will he spare you?
In this he departs from the law of nature, by which, according to
baron Montesquieu and every other man who thinks on the subject,
it is unjustifiable to take away the life of him who submits; the
conqueror in doing otherwise becomes a murderer, who ought to be
put to death. On this principle are not the whole Indian nations
murderers?

Many of them may not have had an opportunity
of putting prisoners to death, but the sentiment which they
entertain leads them invariably to this when they have it in their
power or judge it expedient; these principles constitute them
murderers, and they ought to be prevented from carrying them into
execution, as we would prevent a common homocide, who should be
mad enough to conceive himself justifiable in killing
men.

The tortures which they exercise on the
bodies of their prisoners justify extermination. Gelo of Syria
made war on the Carthaginians because they oftentimes burnt human
victims, and made peace with them on conditions they could cease
from this unnatural and cruel practice, If we could have any faith
in the promises they make we could suffer them to live, provided
they would only make war amongst themselves, and abandon their
hiding or lurking on the pathways of our citizens, emigrating
unarmed and defenceless inhabitants; and murdering men, women and
children in defenceless situation; and on their ceasing in the
meantime to raise arms no more among the American
Citizens.

1. What is Mr. Brackenridge' opinion of
natives?

2. What does he think of their claim to the
land?

3. How does he think claim should be
established?

4. Do you agree with him?

5. How would his land claim theory be
regarded by environmentalists (the Sierra Club), for
instance?

Desired Student Outcome: Students will look at
early American history from the Indian point of view.

Strategies: Read this speech aloud or listen to
tape.

In Boston, when an Indian, Frank
James, was chosen to be orator at a celebration of the 350th year
after the landing of the Pilgrims, he was prepared to deliver this
speech.

OUR BEGINNINGS: AN INDIANS VIEW
-Frank James

I speak to you as a Man - Wampanoag
Man. I am a proud man, proud of my ancestry, my accomplishments
won by strict parental direction - ("You must succeed - your face
is a different color in this small Cape Cod community.") I am a
product of poverty and discrimination, from these two social and
economic diseases. I, and my brothers and sisters have painfully
overcome, and to an extent earned the respect of our community. We
are Indians first - but we are termed "good citizens." Sometimes
we are arrogant, but only because society has pressured us to be
so.

It is with mixed emotions that I stand here
to share my thoughts. This is a time of celebration for you -
celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the white man in
American. A time of looking back - of reflection. It is with heavy
heart that I look back upon what happened to my people.

Even before the Pilgrims landed here it was
common practice for explorers to capture Indians, take them to
Europe and sell them as slaves for 20 shillings apiece. The
Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days
before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen
their corn, wheat and beans. Mourts Relation describes a
searching party of 16 men - he goes on to say that this party took
as much of the Indians winter provisions as they were able
to carry.

Massasoit, the great Sachem of the
Wampanoags, knew these facts, yet he and his people welcomed and
befriended the settlers of the Plymouth Plantation. Perhaps he did
this because his tribe had been depleted by an epidemic. Or his
knowledge of the harsh oncoming winter was the reason for this
peaceful acceptance of these acts. This action by Massasoit was
probably our greatest mistake. We, the Wampanoags, welcomed you
the white man with open arms, little knowing that it was the
beginning of an end; that before 50 years were to pass, the
Wampanoags would not longer be a tribe.

What happened in those short 50 years? What
has happened in the last 300 years? History gives us facts and
information - often contradictory. There were battles, there were
atrocities, there were broken promises - and most of these
centered around land ownership. Among ourselves we understood that
there were boundaries - but never before had we had to deal with
fences and stonewalls; with the white man's need to prove his
worth by the amount of land that he owned. Only 10 years later,
when the Puritans came, they treated the Wampanoag with even less
kindness in converting the soul or the so-called savages. Although
they were harsh to members of their own society, the Indian was
pressed between stone slabs and hanged as quickly as any other "witch."

And so down through the years there is
record after record of Indian lands being taken, and in token
reservations set up for him upon which to live. The Indian, having
been stripped of his power, could but only stand by and watch -
while the white man took his land and used it for his personal
gain. This the Indian couldn't understand, for to him, land was
for survival, to farm, to hunt, to be enjoyed. It wasn't to be
abused. We see incident after incident where the white sought to
tame the savage and convert him to the Christian ways of life. The
early settlers led the Indian to believe that if he didnt
behave, they would dig up the ground and unleash the great
epidemic again.

The white man used the Indians nautical
skills and abilities. they let him be only a seaman - but never a
captain. Time and time again, in the white mans society, we
the Indians have been termed, "Low man on the Totem
Pole".

Has the Wampanoag really disappeared? There
is still an aura of mystery. We know there was an epidemic that
took many Indian lives - some Wampanoags moved west and joined the
Cherokees and Cheyenne. They were forced to move. Some even went
north to Canada! Many Wampanoags put aside their Indian heritage
and accepted the white man's ways for their own survival. There
are some Wampanoags who do not wish it known they are Indian for
social and economic reasons.

What happened to those Wampanoags who chose
to remain and lived among the early settlers? What kind of
existence did they lead as civilized people? True, living was not
as complex as life is today - but they dealt with the confusion
and the change. Honesty, trust, concern, pride, and politics wove
themselves in and out of their daily living. Hence he was termed
crafty, cunning, rapacious and dirty.

History wants us to believe that the Indian
was a savage, illiterate uncivilized animal. A history that was
written by an organized, disciplined people, to expose us as an
unorganized and undisciplined entity. Two distinctly different
cultures met. One thought they must control life - the other
believed life was to be enjoyed, because nature decreed it. Let us
remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white man.
The Indian feels pain, gets hurt and becomes defensive, has
dreams, bears tragedy and failure, suffers from loneliness, needs
to cry as well as laugh. He too, is often
misunderstood.

The white man in the presence of the Indian
is still mystified by his uncanny ability to make him feel
uncomfortable. This may be that the image that the white man
created of the Indian - "his savageness" - has boomeranged and it
isnt mystery, it is fear, fear of the Indians
temperament.

High on a hill, overlooking the famed
Plymouth Rock stands the statue of our great sachem, Massasoit.
Massasoit has stood there many years in silence. We the
descendants of this great Sachem have been a silent people. The
necessity of making a living in this materialistic society of the
white man has caused us to be silent. Today, I and many of my
people are choosing to face the truth. We are Indians.

Although time has drained dour culture, and
our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the
lands of Massachusetts. We may be fragmented, we may be confused.
Many years have passed since we have been a people together. Our
lands were invaded. We fought as hard to keep our land as you the
white did to take our land away from us. We were conquered, we
became the American Prisoners of War in many cases, and wards of
the United States Government, until only recently.

Our spirit refuses to die. Yesterday we
walked the woodland paths and sandy trails. Today we must walk the
macadem highways and roads. We are uniting. Were standing
not in our wigwams but in our concrete tent. We stand tall and
proud and before too many moons pass well right the wrongs
we have allowed to happen to us.

We forfeited our country. Our lands have
fallen into the hands of the aggressor. We have allowed the white
man to keep us on our knees. What has happened cannot be changed,
but today we work toward a more humane America, a more Indian
America where man and nature once again are important, where the
Indian values of honor, truth and brotherhood prevail.

You the white man are celebrating an
anniversary. We the Wampanoags will help you celebrate in the
concept of a beginning. It was the beginning of a new life for the
Pilgrims. Now 350 years later is a beginning of a new
determination for the original American - the American
Indian.

There are some factors involved concerning
the Wampanoags and other Indians across this vast nation. We now
have 350 years of experience living amongst the white man. We can
now speak his language. We can now think as the white man thinks.
We can now compete with him for the top jobs. Were being
heard; we are now being listened to. The important point is that
along with these necessities of everyday living, we still have the
spirit, we still have a unique culture, we still have the will and
most important of all, the determination, to remain as Indians. We
are determined and our presence here this evening is living
testimony that this is only a beginning of the American Indian,
particularly the Wampanoag, to regain the position in this country
that is rightfully ours.

1. How does his view of the cultural
contact differ from that of Mr. Brackenridge?

2. How does the history of the Wampanoag
Tribe differ from that of the Alaska native groups?

3. In what way are their histories
similar?

Content Area: Social Studies - United States
Government

Unit: Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act

Time on Unit: Approximately 10 days

Major Objectives:

Students will be able . .

To gain insight into the historical basis
for a land claims in Alaska.

To know major features of
ANCSA.

To become familiar with the thirteen (13)
regional corporation village corporations, and non-profits and
learn how they are interrelated.

To gain insight into-the implications of
the act as it relates to the native and non-native population of
Alaska.

A document that states a contract,
agreement, transfer of property, etc.

Heirs

The people who inherit property after
a person dies.

Inheritance

Something given to a person or passed
into the possession of another, a legacy.

Acres

A way of measuring land. There are 640
acres in a square mile. An acre can be any shape. A square
acre would measure just under 209 feet long each
side.

Encroachment

The infringement upon, taking over of
native lands by the government.

Lesson 2.

Dawes 1887 Act/General Allotment
Act

Divided reservations into 80 and 160
acre tracts to be owned by individual Indians. After each
eligible native received lands the surplus was put up for
sale by the government. Indian holdings were reduced from
156 million acres to 78 million acres by 1900.

Assimilation

The merging of the native population
into the non-natives resulting in loss of cultural
identity.

Treaty

A formal agreement between the U.S.
government and ratified by Congress.

Treaty of Cession

1867 - Russian America sold to the
U.S. Native people were considered "uncivilized native
tribes" who would be excluded from citizenship. Uncivilized
natives were considered on same basis in lower 48
states.

Organic Act

1884 - Certain lands, in use by
natives were recognized as belonging to those natives and
were not allowed to be claimed by non-natives.

Native Allotment Act

1906 - First Congressional Act which
allowed natives to obtain title to land, provided for
conveyance of 160 acres of public domain to natives. Did not
recognize aboriginal title.

Alaska Native Brotherhood

The first native organization in the
state founded to seek citizenship for natives.

Citizenship Act

1924 - U.S. Congress granted U.S.
citizenship to all Natives which had not already become
citizens under the Dawes Act.

Native Townsite Act

1926 - Villages were surveyed into
lots, blocks sheets and individual lots conveyed to native
adults - provided for "restricted" title. The land could not
be sold or leased without approval of the Secretary of the
Interior.

Statehood Act

1958 - The state's land, obtained
through this act could not include land which should belong
to the natives.

Lesson 3.

Termination

The end of something. Some native
people rights felt that ANCSA would terminate the special
relationship between natives and the federal
government.

Mainstream

To blend into an already established
pattern - as in the Alaska natives into non-native
lifestyle.

Project Chariot

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's
Nuclear device which was to be set off at Cape Thompson - to
create a harbor for shipment of minerals. Began the first
organized efforts of the 1960's to preserve ancient land
rights.

Lesson 4.

Alaska Land Claim Task
Force

A task force established under state
sponsorship chaired by William Hensley to develop a proposal
f settlement of the land claims. The task force delivered
its report in January 1968 and it was introduced by Senator
Ernest Gruening.

Precedents

An act, statement, legal decision,
case that may serve as an example, reason or justification
for a later one.

Land Freeze

Imposed by Interior Secretary Udall in
1966 to stop transfer of lands claimed by natives until
Congress could act upon the claims.

Lesson 5.

Lobby

To talk with government
representatives to try to make laws which will help a
certain group of people.

Compensation

Payment for something lost.

AFN

Alaska Federation of Natives. First
meeting was held October 19 1966. Organized group of Alaska
Natives for the land freeze on federal lands until land
claims issues were solved, and the recommendation to
Congress of the Land Claims Act.

Appropriation

A sum of money allotted through
official action by Congress for a specific use.

Articles of Incorporation

A written agreement describing the
purposes and conditions of the association of persons in a
joint enterprise.

Allocated

To set aside, to give out, as in lands
and monies allocated by the Land Claims Settlement
Act.

Lesson 6,7.

Proxy

A Certificate authorizing one person
to vote for another.

Enrollment

Listing of people who belong to the
Native Corp. or Village Corp.

Legal Title

A document showing official ownership
of property.

Regional Corporations

Organizations formed according to
state laws which represent the different native regions of
Alaska.

Stockholder

Person who owns stock, or shares in
the corporation.

Dividends

Payments to stockholders from the
company's profits.

Shares

The equal portions which a company's
stock is divided.

Statute

A law passed by legislature and set
forth in a formal document.

Non-profit

Not yielding a return, arm of the
regional corporations designed for social services and
educational purposes.

Tax-exempt

Money received by individuals and
village corporations as their share of compensation for land
claims extinguished which is not subject to income
taxes.

Eligible

To meet requirements for
something.

Lesson 9.

Self-determination

To plan one's own future, to be
responsible for one's own destiny.

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 1

WHO OWNS THE LAND?

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

Property ownership situation in
the U.S. for native and non-natives prior to
ANCSA.

Understanding of stimuli leading
toward settling land claims in Alaska in 1950's and
60's.

Students will gain historical
point of view on racial discrimination and rights of
ownership.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

Predicting Sheet for Unit - This could be
used to introduce the entire unit.

Discuss how one becomes an "owner" of
something. Have students brainstorm a list on the board including
ideas such as: claim, inherit, buy, earn, steal, barter, sell,
etc.

Relate this discussion to the "theory of
finders-keepers"/ conditions of ownership. How can one claim
something? Have student skim and discuss list of Land Ownership
Attitudes (Day l Readings)

Do the enrichment activity provided "Indians and Europeans".
(Included in teacher's guide)

Read aloud, or have taped the personal
accounts of Hugh Henry Brackenridge and Frank James. Discuss in
class. (Included in teacher's guide)

Group I is to assume the position of
being European settlers in the Americas. The group is to make up what
kind of attitude representing the 13 colonies government,
settler-farmer or missionary, etc. they wish to hold toward the
American Indians. Have adopted that attitude, the group is to decide
on one of the following courses of action regarding the treatment of
American Indians and provide reasons for the choice.

Don't do anything -- just let
the settlers gradually outnumber the Indians and gradually take
over.

Kill off the Indians.

Put the Indians on
reservations.

Encourage Indian assimilation into the
dominate society.

Encourage Indians to keep their identity
and cultural heritage and work within the larger
society.

(Adapted from the teacher's guide AS IT
HAPPENED: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, Charles Sellers, ed., New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975)

Group II is to assume the position of a
community of American Indians. It is to decide (a) how it would like
to relate to the European settlers migrating into the Americas and
(b) why it chose that method.

After Group I and II have made their decisions
(15 minutes) the class can come together and each group report to the
entire group what it decided and why those particular choices were
made.

Discussion should focus on the kinds of
attitudes, beliefs and problems held by both settlers and Indians
toward each other that contributed to the kinds of choices made by
each group. Discuss also why European settlers could continue to move
onto Indian lands.

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 2

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR ANCSA

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

There were many events in U.S.
history which led eventually to a native claims
settlement.

All the native groups of Alaska
contributed to winning the settlement.

Students will have an
understanding of the historical foundation which led to
ANCSA and complete a timeline depicting major events in
Alaska history.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

Review reading and writing assignments from
Lesson 1 and discuss.

Review Alaska Native Language Map; identify
native groups.

The timeline could be started with-students
and then researched by students and completed the next day.
Possibly place a timeline on the board with a few important events
as a start.

Have the students research additional
events in Alaska history and add to the timeline.

Frank St. Clair was a Tlingit Indian from
Hoonah and Glacier Bay, Alaska. In the Tlingit culture, a family had
two main homes: a winter home in the village and a spring, summer and
fall home at fishcamp. St. Clair's fishcamp was at Glacier Bay. His
family had built a summer house, a smokehouse, and a food cache near
a fish stream there, and had used that fishcamp throughout his entire
life.

In May 1906, the Native Allotment Act was
passed. It allowed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to
allot up to 150 acres of nonmineral land to any Alaska Native who
applied, provided that he was the head of a family or 21 years old,
and was the occupant of the land.

In 1909, the Tongass National Forest in
Southeastern Alaska was expanded to include the St. Clair fishcamp.
However, the prior rights of residents of the expanded area still
existed; the proclamation expanding the forest did not wipe out
traditional Native ownership.

In 1915, St. Clair filed, under the Native
Allotment Act, for the 160 acres surrounding his summer fish and
berrying camp. In his application, he said that his family had used
the land for generations and that he still used it.

It took the government five years to take any
action on St. Clair's application. Three times, in 1920, 1924, and
1927, investigators went to the land to see if there was any evidence
of occupancy on it. There was: the house, cache, and smokehouse were
there, and each time showed that they had been used
recently.

Still, the Forest Service recommended that the
allotment be reduced from 160 acres to 9.38 acres, since that was all
the land that seemed, to the ranger, to be in use.

This included the land around the house only
and did not include the smokehouse, the cache or food and water
source (the fish creek). In 1929, 14 years after St. Clairs
application, the Department of the Interior reviewed the Forest
Services recommendation. the decision of the Department was
that, under the law, there was no reason to reduce St. Clairs
allotment. First, the Native Allotment Act did not require
continuous, year-round occupation of the land. Second, it did not
require that all the land claimed be "improved" by buildings or
agriculture, as had the Homestead Act of 1898. (Southeastern Alaska
is not, of course, suitable farmland anyway). Third, the Act did not
require that St. Clair prove that Glacier Bay was his only
home. And finally, no one ever asked St. Clair how he used his
land; they simply assumed that, since they didnt see evidence
of any use besides as a fishcamp, that he didnt use it for
anything else.

The next year the Department of the Interior
looked at the decision again. Since the Native Allotment Act stated
that "up to 160 acres" could be allotted at "the discretion of the
Secretary of the Interior," the Department felt it had the power to
decide how much land it would convey to St. Clair. The allotment was
again reduced to 9.36 acres. The decision reads:

In view of the fact that it has been
nine years or more since the applicant filed his application for
the allotment, and has not cleared or cultivated any portion of
the land or made other improvements tending to show that he
intended to make his permanent home thereon, and since the
evidence indicates that he has used and intends to use the land as
a fishing site it appears that 10 acres are sufficient for his
purpose. Accordingly, a survey, embracing the land upon which the
house is located and about 600 feet of water front, with a total
net area of 9.36 acres, was made.

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 4

LEGAL PRECEDENTS AND THE LAND CLAIMS
STRUGGLE

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

There were many legal steps taken
before finalization of the act.

Students will complete a worksheet
demonstrating the understanding of the legal steps which
preceded ANCSA.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

1. Discuss reading assignment; view
video-tape.

2. Do Worksheet I in class with students,
possibly in groups.

3. Discuss answers (Key in teacher's
guide)

VOCABULARY: Alaska Land Claims Task Force, "land freeze," precedents

READING ASSIGNMENT: Political Pressure, Good
Timing Favored Claims

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS FOR LESSONS: ANCSA
Booklets

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 5

HOW THE ACT WAS PASSED

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

Review of legal precedents for
ANCSA.

Understanding of components of a
successful political action.

Understanding of how ANCSA fits in
with those components.

Understanding of difficulties
facing Alaska Natives in the 1900's as they began to work
on achieving their goal of title to the land.

Students will participate in
project concerning land ownership which will increase
their understanding of successful political
actions.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

Divide class into groups of about 5
students each. Each group will need the student readings,
Realities of the 1960's. Each group's goal is to decide how
it will go about getting clear title to its ancestral
lands.

The goal of the simulation activity is
divided into 6 tasks. Tell the students they will have only 5
minutes for each subtask. Time the group work and signal every 5
minutes that the groups should move on to the next task. The tasks
are detailed in the following pages.

At the end of the work session, get reports
from each group. Judge the group solutions for effectiveness in
obtaining the land.

As an option to activities 1-3, read
Alaska Native Land Claims pp 138-144 and do Worksheet
II.

READING ASSIGNMENT: Have students read
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Vol. 5. In addition, have
them identify a native person who was active in the political arena
of the 1960's from the Fairbanks area. How was this person
involved?

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS FOR LESSON: Student Group
Assignment, Worksheet I

WORKSHEET I

LEGAL PRECEDENTS AND THE LAND CLAIMS STRUGGLE,
VOL. 4

1.

Listed below are the major laws and
court cases which showed that the United States
governmental system believed that Alaska Natives should
be compensated for the lands they lost. Briefly tell what
each says in terms of native land ownership:

A. Treaty of Cession
(1867)

B. Organic Act (1884)

C. Native Allotment Act
(1906)

D. Native Townsite Act
(1926)

E. Tlingit/Haida court settlement
(1959)

F. Statehood Act (1959)

2.

Briefly describe the following
conflicts which indicated a land dispute in
Alaska:

A. Project Chariot

B. Barrow duck hunting
incident

C. Minto Flats land
selection

D. Rampart Dam

SELECTED DATES

1867

Alaska is purchased from Russia by the
United States. Treaty of Cession provides that "uncivilized
Native tribes" to be subject to such laws and regulations as
the United States may from time to time adopt in regards to
aboriginal tribes of that country."

1867-1884

Governance of Alaska by the Army, then
by the Collector of Customs, then by the Navy.

1878

Beginning of salmon industry; first
canneries established.

1880

First important gold discovery in
Alaska (Juneau).

1884

The Organic Act makes Alaska a
District with appointed governor and other officers;
protection for lands used and occupied by Natives
promised.

1906

Native Allotment Act provides first
opportunity for Natives to obtain land under restricted
title.

1912

Alaska becomes a territory with
two-house legislatures; capital at Juneau.

1912

Alaska Native Brotherhood is founded
in Sitka.

1924

Citizenship Act extends citizenship to
all Alaska Natives who had not become citizens
earlier.

Hudson Bay gave up Ft. Yukon when it
discovered its in U.S. territory.

1871

Congress ended negotiations of
treaties between U.S. and Indian tribes.

1872

Gold discovered near Sitka.

Gold discovered near Cassiar,
B.C.

1874

Gold rush to Cassiar, B.C. and
re-establishment of Army post at Ft. Wrangel.

First white across Chilkoot Pass
(George Halt).

1875

General Howard recommended Alaska to
be a county of Washington territory. Anti-military in
Alaska. Felt it corrupted Indians and started
problems.

5 Nations of the Sioux under Sitting
Bull try to save the sacred Black Hills. Battle of Little
Big Horn.

1876

Gold discovered south of Juneau in
Windham Bay.

Nez Perce and Chief Joseph reason for
military leaving Alaska. Joseph and people captured about 40
miles from Canada.

1877

Presbyterian mission established in
Wrangel, then Sitka. First U.S. church mission after
purchase. First school established at Wrangel after
purchase. Next at Sitka.

REALITIES OF THE
1960'S

WHO YOU ARE:

You are a group of Alaska Natives from all
over the state, but you all live in Anchorage, Juneau, or
Fairbanks at the present time. YOUR GOAL:

Your goal is to obtain clear title to your
ancestral lands. This goal has been broken down into six (6)
tasks, the student reading ("realities of the 1960's") will give
you background information to help you decide your future actions.
Your group will have only 5 minutes to discuss each task. The
teacher will signal when your 5 minutes are up. Move on to the
next task then, even if you haven't reached agreement on the last
item. You will be asked to present your decisions to the rest of
the class.

TASKS:

1. How will you go about organizing
and uniting all the Native groups which you represent, plus
some others which are not represented in your group and may be
living out of state?

2. How will you get money to travel to
meetings with Natives in other parts of the state?

3. Brainstorm some methods for getting
title and choose the most effective ones. Some examples
are:

a. civil disobedience
b. demonstrations
c. letters to Congressmen
d. sue the government for lands taken by the
U.S. Forest Service and other
agencies.
e. appeal to the United Nations
f. get press coverage for your cause
g. work to get legislation passed giving you title
h. work to have reservations established
i. elect Natives to Federal and State legislature

4. Will you pursue your goal at the state
or national level?

5. Which political branch or branches
will you utilize?

6. Will any non-Native groups be willing
to work with you for your mutual interests? Which
ones?

REALITIES OF THE
1960'S

A. TREATY OF CESSION (1867) divided Natives
into "civilized and uncivilized" tribes. Civilized
Natives were to have the rights of non-Natives. However, no one
but the federal government was given the right to own land. The
"uncivilized" tribes were to be considered on the same basis as
the Indians in the contiguous United States.

B. LEGAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN U.S.
GOVERNMENT AND AMERICAN INDIANS IN GENERAL: Since the earliest
treaties the U.S. Government had dealt with Indians as sovereign
nations, not as part of the American society. The fact that
treaties had been made showed that the government believed the
Indians had some rights to the land which must be bought. The
formation of reservations itself was a trade of desirable land for
undesirable land. In addition to forcing Indians to live on lands
not originally their own, and in compensation for taking away the
ancestral lands and the freedom of lifestyle, the government
agreed to provide medical, social, and educational services to
Indians forever.

C. ORGANIC ACT (1884) did not allow
Natives to obtain title to their lands, but was important in
showing that the government considered some lands owned by
Natives. It said:

"Indians or other persons in said
district shall not be disturbed in the possession of any lands
actually in their use or occupation or now claimed by them but
the terms under which such persons may acquire title to such
lands is reserved for future legislation by Congress."

D. INDIVIDUAL LAND OWNERSHIP: Natives
could own land on an individual basis through two federal laws,
but both provided only "restricted" title. The land could not be
sold or leased with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
The two laws, the Native Allotment Act of 1906 and the Native
Townsite Act of 1926, are described below:

1. "The Native Allotment Act of
1906 provided for conveyance of 160 acres of public domain to
adult Natives. any single tract could be selected as long as
the ground did not include mineral deposits. A few allotments
were issued in southeastern Alaska, but most Native did not
even know that such allotments could be obtained.

Under the second act, the Native Townsite
Act of 1926, villages were to be surveyed into lots, blocks,
and streets, and individual lots conveyed to Native
adults.

Neither the Allotment Act or the Townsite
Act were effective in protecting lands used and occupied by
Natives. Allotments were fine for farmers, but not for hunters
and fishermen. And what protection for a large foodgathering
territory was to be afforded by a small lot in the
village?"

Arnold, ANCSA 1976

E. RESERVATIONS: Some land was in
trust ownership in the form of reservations. There were
twenty-three (23) at the time, Metlakatla, Venetie and Arctic
Village were the largest. But this was not full ownership since
the land could not be sold, leased or developed except through
approval or the federal government.

F. TLINGIT/HAIDA COURT SETTLEMENT
(1959) showed that the federal government agreed that there
was a basis to aboriginal claim to the land and .hat compensation
was due when the land had been taken.

G. STATEHOOD ACT (1958) : 103 million
acres of land were given to the State
provided they were not lands "the right or tile to which may be
held by Eskimos, Indians or Aleuts."

2. NATIVE ORGANIZATIONS AS OF
1965

A. In traditional days, the Native
groups had not been organized as tribes with chiefs. Although the
situation differed from group to group, in general the political
unit was the large, or extended family or clan. Each family unit
had a leader. These family units still operated to some extent in
1960, but they were not organized into a single whole, and
numbered in the thousands.

B. Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) had been
founded in 1912. It had a large membership, but was based in
Southeastern Alaska, with most members being Tlingit or Haida.
Nonnatives were also eligible for membership. Its original purpose
was to counteract social injustices such as lack of education and
racial segregation and prejudice.

C. IRA Councils existed in more than seventy
(70) Alaskan villages. They were set up as a result of the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934. These were the tribal organizations
recognized by the federal government, though not by the state
government.

D. In the early 1960's, a number of local
social organizations began, also primarily to deal with social
issues; Inupiat Paitot, Cook Inlet Native Association,
etc.

3. TRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG NATIVE
GROUPS:

A. Rivaliers in previous eras, war and
feuding were common. The unit which stuck together in times of
dispute was usually the large (extended) family. In general,
whereever boundaries existed between cultures, there was
intermittent warfare. Some examples are:

Unangan (Aleutian Island Aleuts) vs.
Koniags (Kodiak Islanders)

Tlingits vs. Haidas

Tlingits vs. Eyaks

Kutchin Athabascans vs. Inupiat
Eskimos

Athabascan bands vs. other Athabascan
bands

Tlingit clans vs. other Tlingit
clans

Inupiat villages vs. other Inupiat
villages

Koyukon Athabascans vs. Inupiat
Eskimos

Ingalik Athabascans vs. Yupik
Eskimos

Eastern Unangan (Aleuts) vs. Western
Unangan

Yupik villages vs. other Yupik
villages

B. Friendly (mutually beneficial)
relationships included:

1. Trade - extensive trade
criss-crossed the state. Examples of groups which traded with
each other were Tlingits and Athabascans, Athabascans and
Eskimos, Tlingits and Eyaks, Tlingits and Chugach Eskimos
(Sugpiaqs). Trade routes themselves were sometimes considered
property of the group through whose territory they passed, and
those owner groups acted as middlemen in trade between two
other groups, thus earning a percentage of the profit. A
notable example was the Chilkoot Pass, owned by Chilkat
Tlingits.

2. Intermarriage, especially along
borders.

3. Multi-lingualism, especially among
Athabascans, who often were the ones to learn the language of
their trading partners from another culture.

4. Consensus regarding territorial
boundaries: Although there were disputes over territory, the
groups knew where the boundaries existed, and disputes
sometimes arose when one group wanted land in another's
territory.

4. LEADERSHIP WITHIN NATIVE
COMMUNITIES:

A. Traditionally, Alaska Native groups
did not have a single chief; they had different leaders for
different tasks, recognizing that no one individual was the best
qualified in all areas of life. In general, though, there was
usually a head of the family who conferred with the other leading
family members in making important decisions.

B. By 1960, most traditional leaders had
turned to nonNative specialists (lawyers, teachers, etc.) to
handle matters in the political area. The traditional elders had,
in some cases, only a small amount of schooling,
and were more comfortable in their native
language rather than English.

C. Some Alaska Natives provided role models
for the younger generations: William Paul, Sr., William Beltz,
Frank Peratrovich, Sr., Andrew Hope, Frank G. Johnson, Percy
Ipalook, Francis Degnan, and James Wells, all members of the
Territorial legislature. Still, they were a small minority and did
not yield a large amount of power within the
legislature.

D. The younger generation had been through
government operated high schools and colleges away from home,
learning to some extent to work within the system. They attended
school at the age when they would previously have been learning to
be valuable adult members of their native societies, so this
information was not passed on to them.

E. The younger generation of natives went to
all-Indian boarding schools, establishing many friendships with
natives from other parts of Alaska and the lower 48, friendships
which would never have existed in the old days.

F. As the younger generation of natives
returned home, they began to take leadership roles in the various
organizations (CINA, FNA, ECT). They also began to take over many
interactions between villages and the government bureaucracy.
Elders were often not consulted in the transactions.

5. TRANSPORTATION IN ALASKA

A, Boat - the BIA owned North Star was
the main mode of contact between western and northern coastal
villages and the outside world in 1960. It came once a year,
during the summer, to bring supplies.

B. Following World War II, the Alcan Highway
assured access to parts of Alaska which had previously been fairly
isolated.

C. The major airlines in Alaska were Reeve
Aleutian, Wien, and Alaska. Airfares were high and schedules
infrequent (once a week at most, to most Alaskan villages and
towns).

6. COMMUNICATIONS

A. No telephone services existed in
the rural areas of the state. Voice communication was general
through radio, with one two-way radio in each village, usually in
the teacher's home or the school.

B. There was no television in rural Alaska.
Some villages received radio transmission from city stations,
while others did not.

C. Television in the major cities of Alaska
was taped-delay by 1960, with both locally produced shows and
network shows.

D. All but one newspaper were locally
oriented. Urban papers were not particularly concerned with native
affairs. The Alaska Sportsman magazine had a statewide
distribution, but came out monthly, and was oriented toward
non-native hunting and fishing interests. The only state-wide
paper, founded in 1962 in residents to Project Chariot at Point
Hope was TundraTimes.

B. Kennedy, then Johnson, proposed massive
social programs aimed in equalizing the economic and social
benefits in the country.

C. Despite political action at this time,
the political and economic power in the country were held largely
by white males.

D. American Indians in the Lower 48 were
becoming organized on a local basis to fight local
inequities.

E. Vietnam War opponents were becoming
vocal, berating not only the war, but the military establishment
in general.

8. ECONOMIC REALITIES

A. Oil had been discovered in the
Swanson River near Kenai. Alaska was in a state of flux; it had
been considered a resource poor state in the early 1960's, but its
potential was beginning to be realized. Still, it was largely
undeveloped potential at this point. The state received much of
its money from federal revenue sharing, obtained partially as a
result of the large federal land holdings within the states'
boundaries.

B. Most of the wealth of Alaska was in the
hands of nonnatives in the cities of Alaska.

C. President Johnson's Office of Economic
Opportunity established offices in the larger towns of Alaska in
an effort to stimulate native-run economic activities. Through
these offices, people from all over the state were urged to meet
and coordinate their work. This allowed for Native leaders to
interact with each other and allowed for discussions of what they
believed to be the heart of their economic well-being - the
land.

WORKSHEET II

U.S. GOVERNMENT

Read pages 138-144 in Arnold's ALASKA
NATIVE LAND CLAIMS. Answer the following questions. This may be
done with one or two other students or as a class, but each
student must have his own paper. Put answers on another sheet of
paper.

1. Refer to your U.S. Government book if you
need a review of the following effective political actions. Then give
two (2) examples which show how the AFN was effective in each
category.

A. organizing skillfully

B. focusing participation

C. sustaining participation

D. fitting activities to
resources

E. building coalitions

F. compromising or trading favors

2. Explain the influence of three individuals
or groups you felt were the most important in the passage of
ANCSA.

3. Why was it Alaska Natives, rather than the
State of Alaska, which was the prime mover in effecting a land
settlement?

4. What factors beyond native control helped
pass ANCSA?

5. In summary, what in your opinion, was the
key to success in this case?

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 6

WHAT THE ACT SAYS

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

The ANCSA is the only legislation
of its kind.

Like the U.S. Constitution it is a
guideline that must be followed for future
development.

It provides the opportunity for
self-determination by the Alaska Natives.

It provides compensation for land
lost.

Students will be able to discuss
major provisions of the Land Claims Act and complete
worksheet.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

1. Begin a lecture on the terms of ANCSA.
Review pages 3-5(Vol.5, AMU Press). The Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act: An Introduction which the students were assigned
to read . Use overheads provided to illustrate the
lecture.

2. Distribute writing topics sheet (Daily
Readings 6). Explain that each student will hand in a paper in which
two of the topics are discussed. Refer to specific resource materials
available. At your discretion, you may permit students to work
together in groups of two or three. This project may also be done in
the form of oral reports, debates, interviews, etc.

1. Overhead #1 shows names and locations of the
twelve (12) regional corporations. The thirteenth corporation has no
land and is made up of Alaska Natives living outside the State of
Alaska.

2. Using the overheads, begin with the land
settlement. Show overheads #2, #3 and #4 which are self-explanatory.
While showing overhead #4, explain that the village corporations are
to distribute land to residents, giving individuals clear
title.

Read or re-phrase page 10 in Kretzinger's book
(reproduced below).

"Whatever their size, villages in southeastern
Alaska would be limited to a single township (23,040 acres), a
limitation justified in the act by the earlier cash award of the
Tlingit-Haida settlement. Limiting elements in the table of
entitlements shown earlier are village selections made from national
forests or wildlife refuges, lands chosen by the State but not yet
owned by it, and Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4. In such areas,
selections would be limited to three townships (69,120 acres), and
other township entitlements, if any would have to be made
elsewhere.

The village corporations would own only the
surface of lands they selected. Their ownership would not include the
minerals below the ground. The rights to the minerals -- the
subsurface estate -- would belong to regional corporations. This
would be true for all 22 million (22,000,000) acres selected, except
for village selections made in Petroleum Reserve No. 4, or in
wildlife refuges.

"SUBSURFACE ESTATE"
MEANS THE MINERALS.

3. Return to overhead #3. Explain the rationale
behind allowing six (6) regional corporations to share in the land
selections:

A. Southeastern Alaska was excluded
because the Tlingit-Haida settlement had compensated for lands
lost.

B. The other six (6) corporations which
receive land (NANA, Doyon, Cook Inlet, Chugach, Arctic Slope, and
Ahtna) all have small populations although traditional land use
was extensive. Under the per capita formula for villages getting
land, those corporations would receive little land because of the
small population of those villages. Yet, the environmental
conditions in each of those regions require large land areas to
subsist.

C. The other five (5) regional corporations
in Alaska have large enough populations so that sufficient land is
conveyed to the villages through the per capital
formula.

4. Still using overhead #3, explain the 3.7
million acres for 7 villages on revoked reserves: Arctic Village,
Elim, Gambell, Klukwan, Savoonga, Tetlin, and Venetie were former
reserves which were revoked by ANCSA. However, each voted to take
title to its reserve which meant that both surface and subsurface
rights are owned by the villages. Individuals enrolled in these
villages did not receive a part of the money settlement.

5. Overhead #3 shows two million (2,000,000)
acres for special purposes.

A. Those include four non-native
cities which have a substantial native population, but cannot be
considered "native villages".

B. The two million (2,000,000) acres also
include cemeteries and historic sites.

C. It also includes native allotments which
were filed for before the passage of the Act.

6. So far the land settlement information has
been for surface rights only. Subsurface rights are owned, not by
village corporations, but by regional corporations. Show overhead
#5.

Note the disparity in amount of
subsurface lands the different corporations have. This is made up
for by a requirement that each regional corporation share its
profits from subsurface resources with all the other regional
corporations.

7. Begin the money settlement portion of the
lecture. Review the rationale for a money settlement: the
compensation for all the lands which Alaska Natives gave up to the
federal and state governments. Read or rephrase pages 12 and 13 of
Kretzinger's book (reproduced below).

Discuss: Why would regional and
village corporations need money? Remind students that by law, they
are to be profitmaking, not social service corporations.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME
FROM?

"Payment for claims which were given up was to
come from two places -- the federal government and possible mineral
sales from state and federal lands. The act created the Alaska Native
Fund in the U.S. Treasury and said that $462,500,000 would be paid
into it over an ll-year period. It also provided for the payment of
$500,000,000 into the Fund from the sale of minerals from federal and
state lands in Alaska.

HOW IS THE MONEY PAID OUT?

"Payments from the Alaska Native Fund would be
made only to regional corporations. They, in turn, would retain part
of the funds and pay out part to individual natives and village
corporations.

The amount of money each regional
corporation would receive was to be based upon its share of enrolled
natives to the total number enrolled. During the first five (5)
years, at least 10% of the claims money and other income received by
a regional corporation was to be given directly to individuals -- its
stockholders -- and at least 45% of such money was to be given to
village corporations within its boundaries. The amount received by
each village corporation was to be based upon its ratio of
stockholders to the total number of stockholders in the
region.

Natives enrolled to regional corporations
but not to villages would receive their share directly, which meant
that their payments would be larger than if they were also enrolled
to villages. They would not be granted land by village corporations,
however, or otherwise benefit from activities these corporations
might carry out."

8. Show Overhead #6 and #7 which are
self-explanatory.

9. Show Overhead #8. The Settlement Fees
were paid directly to individual shareholders, and amounted to
$375.00 per person. The rest of the money went into the regional, and
sometimes village corporations. Show Overhead #ll. Note that the
Alaska Native Fund reached its $962.5 million limit in 1981. After
its last payment in April 1982, the only money distributed to
shareholders is dividends earned by the corporations. If the
corporations do not make profits, shareholders will not receive
dividends.

10. The final topic to consider is deadlines
established by ANCSA, These include:

B. Twenty years after it has been conveyed,
land becomes taxable. Originally this was to happen in 1991, but
when it became evident that legal title was taking so long to be
concluded on the land, an amendment to the act (ANILCA, December
1980) allowed the extension of twenty years beyond the date of
conveyance. This means that within any given corporation, the
taxation situation will be varied and complicated, as different
lands had been delayed for different amounts of time. Discuss with
students why the lands were not made taxable
immediately.

C. Natives born after December 18, 1971 do
not receive any benefits of ANCSA unless they inherit
stock.

WRITING TOPICS: U.S. GOVERNMENT ANCSA
UNIT

Choose two of the following topics. For each
topic, research materials are available in the classroom. Read
through those materials, then write a short report. Each report
should contain:

A. A statement or definition of the
facts or situation

B. A statement of the ramifications of the
situation (e.g. whom does if affect? Why has it become a problem?
What are future problems which the founders of ANCSA did not
foresee?, etc.)

C. A statement of your opinion or prediction
regarding the situation?

TOPIC l

Why is 1991 an important date? Why are native
corporations and shareholders worried about it?

TOPIC 2

Were regional and village corporations good
structures to have the money settlement flow through? What are the
pros and cons of the corporation structure? How well do corporations
fit in with traditional native political structures?

TOPIC 3

Can and should native regional corporations be
responsible for the social welfare of their shareholders?

TOPIC 4

What will happen to Alaska Native children born
after 1971? Are they covered under ANCSA?

TOPIC 5

Does the United States still have a trust
responsibility to Alaska Natives in the areas of education, social
and medical benefits?

TOPIC 6

How far has ANCSA come in being implemented?
Why is it taking so long? When will it be fully
implemented?

TOPIC 7

Choose one native regional corporation and
detail its economic situation as of 1981. Include a statement of its
goals and how well it is meeting them.

Overhead #1

WHO ARE THE 12 REGIONAL
CORPORATIONS?

There were 12 associations in Alaska
which became the basis of the regional corporations after the
passage of the Native Claims Settlement Act. These original
associations were:

All eligible Natives enrolling, to
these regions would become stockholders in the corporations
formed in them, except for members of reserves revoked by
the act which voted to accept full ownership of their former
reserves.

Twelve regional corporations will hold title
to the subsurface estate of each special city, Alaska Native
groups, cemeteries and historic sites. Title to the subsurface
estate of allotments will be held the federal
government.

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES: Students might be asked
to find newspaper articles about business
corporations to share in class. A comparison might be made
as to size, purposes, similarities, differences,
etc. in the various corporations as they
appear in the articles. Or the class might make a list
of the business corporations in the community and
their means for producing income and
profit.

From a phone book, students might make a list
of five business corporations (or two,
depending upon the size of the community) which have "Inc." included in the title.
Brief attention might be
given to the difference between a business
corporation, a single proprietor business or a partnership.

CONTROLS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
REGIONAL BUSINESS CORPORATIONS

Characteristics of a regular business
corporation which apply to regional (and
village) business corporations:

PURPOSE OF A REGULAR BUSINESS
CORPORATION:

1. receive and invest monies

2. earn a profit

3. distribute dividends to
stockholder

4. maintain a list of
stockholders

5. issue stock

6. keep stockholders informed

SYSTEMS OF CONTROLS PLACED UPON BUSINESS
CORPORATIONS:

1. state commerce laws

2. articles of incorporation

3. by-laws

4. accounting procedures

5. Securities Exchange Commission

6. Internal Revenue Service
requirements

Characteristics of regional business
corporations as required by Alaska Native
Land Claims Settlement Act, December 18, 1971:

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REGIONAL
BUSINESS CORPORATIONS:

1. receive and invest monies from the
Alaska Native Fund

2. distribute portions of the Alaska Native
Fund to village business corporations
and at-large stockholders

3. share 70% of profits from mineral and
timber resources with the 12 regional
corporations

4. manage regional-owned lands

5. maintain subsurface rights to land
within the region (except the revoked
reserve lands)

6. review village land selections and
transactions (10 years)

7. approve village business corporation
budgets (5 years)

ADDITIONAL CONTROLS PLACED UPON REGIONAL
BUSINESS CORPORATIONS:

1. articles of incorporation and
by-laws to be approved by the Secretary of the
Interior

2. annual audit of accounts given to
Secretary of Interior and Interior and Insular
Affairs committees of both houses of Congress

3. operating funds for the business
corporation come from Congress based on regional
enrollment

4. stockholders are to be 1/4 Alaska Native
who are enrolled

5. stock may not be sold or assigned for
twenty years (1991)

6. only the shareholders have voting rights
in the corporation (20 years)

1. Enrollment as of June 30, 1979, but subject to further
adjustment. Myron Igtanloc, Enrollment Office, BIA.

2. Native people may enroll, for land claims settlement
purposes, in the region in which they reside or in
the region of origin. Natives in the "lower 48" are
enrolled in region of origin or in the "Thirteenth Regional
Corp."

3. Excludes residents of six villages in four former
reserves as follows:

Bering Straits

Elim
Gambell
Saoonga

Doyon

Tetlin
Venetie
Arctic Village

234
428424 1,086

124
157147 4281,514

4. The purpose of enrollment is to identify Natives
eligible to share in the settlement. To qualify a Native
must be 1/4 or more Native, A U.S. citizen, and born on or
before Dec. 18, 1971 and still living on that date. Anyone
born after that date does not share in the settlement.

Click on image for a larger version.

Native Corporation Boundaries

Source: Anchorage Daily News

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 8

ANCSA TODAY

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

The main responsibility of the
corporation is to be financially successful.

Many ANCSA corporations provide
leadership in shaping the important lasting
values educational and employment
opportunities of their shareholders.

Students will demonstrate
understanding of the major provisions of ANCSA
by completing a quiz.

Through discussion students will
begin to realize the importance of ANCSA
for all Alaska residents.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period.

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

1. Review

A. Distribute Worksheet III - "What
the ANCSA Act Says". As a pop quiz, have
students fill it in, based on their memories of the past two (2)
days discussions.

B. Without having them turn it in, go over
the quiz orally and have them fill in
the proper answers.

2. Review Doyon Annual Report with the class
and discuss it.

3. Show the slide show "ANCSA 1981: A Snapshot
of Today", or the Dave Case videotape
(Alaska Native Education Office). Students might be asked to
take notes on the slide show. The notes can
be a basis for discussion following the
presentation.

In any society people must face
important decisions about their future.

Who am l?
How am I going to live my life?
Where will I live?
What kind of work will I do?
Will I live alone?
Will I marry?
Should I go to college?
Should I get extra training after high school?
What will my world be like?

How should one answer such questions? Each
person will answer differently,
depending upon personal values. With this book you will have
a chance to discuss your values and
think about them. Then you can use that knowledge
about yourself to answer important questions about your
future and the future of
Alaska.

Roger Lang said, "The outlook is
fabulous. You can be anything you want to be."

Part II: Shaping The
Future-Self-Determination

In 1976 Emil Notti was president of
AFN. He spoke before a committee in Washington,
D.C. He said that the government had failed to meet the
needs of Natives in Alaska.

I point these things out because
there is a strong feeling among the Nativepeople in Alaska and they want to have
control of their own destiny. And ifthere
are going to be mistakes made, we want to make them, not let
the baddecisions be made in
Juneau, or even farther away, in Washington, D.C. Istand here before you to state in the
strongest terms possible that therepresentatives
here today.... do not want paternal guidance fromWashington, D.C.

In December 1971, Nick Begich was
Alaskas representative to Congress. He
forecast that the claims act would let " .... the social economic,
and cultural choices of Alaskan
Natives.... be made as independently .... as possible."

At the same time Senator Mike Gravel
said:

This will not insure dramatic
improvements in their way of life, but it will give the Native people on
opportunity to build and create on their own, with their own leadership,
in their own way for the first time not dictated
to by non-Native bureaucracy thousands of miles
away.

In the Anchorage Daily Times April 25, 1975,
Native leader Roger Lang declared:

"An Alaskan native will someday be the
president of the state Chamber of Commerce." That prediction came
yesterday from Roger Lang, Alaska Federation of Natives President,
in his address here on the future of the people who are to be the
state's largest landowners.

"Natives will and are now being
thought of differently than five and even three years ago, " he
said to the Anchorage Republican luncheon group. "Alaskan
Natives are coming into their own as a viable economic
power."

To back his predictions, Land said
recent native development has been snowballing.

"Some 200 profit-making native
corporate entities have come into being since the signing of
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, " he said.
"Two hundred and sixty-eight million dollars in contract work
on projects around Alaska are now being handled by
natives."

Hotels "as good as any in Fairbanks
and Anchorage" are being completed in such places as Kotzebue
and Barrow, he said. Projects from new apartments in Bethel to
a timber management group to supervise southeaster wood
resources are among additional ventures he said are changing
the Alaska natives position in the states economic
and social circles.

"Most important " said Lang "are not
these things but the reinstitution in
the pride of being an Alaska native. "

Until now, we .... never thought
ourselves owners of the land. We were its
guests, and we fed at the table of the
sea. These were our hosts, and we treated
them with respect. Now we have won ownership of a portion of
our ancestral lands. We accept
them willingly, but not without a sense of awe
and reverence.

-- l 974 Koniag Inc.
Annual Report

All the quotations are by people who want
Native people to plan their own future. To plan ones own
future is call self-determination. Before you read on,
stop now and write a paragraph. Explain in you own words what
self-determination means to Alaska Natives.

Self-determination means that, in most
cases, the government cannot tell Alaska Natives how to use
their money or land.

ANCSA UNIT

Lesson 10

PROJECTS/POST-TEST

Teaching Objectives:

Learner Outcome:

Review of original
objectives

Students will have a better
understanding of ANCSA as demonstrated by
reaching the six (6) course objectives
stated at the beginning of the course.

TIME REQUIRED: Approximately 1 class
period

PRE-READING
ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION

1. Discuss any last minute
questions.

2. Administer post-test to students.

3. Collect written papers or begin oral reports
in class.

VOCABULARY: Review

READING ASSIGNMENT: Post test

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS FOR LESSON: Final
Examination

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

LEADERS IN THE NATIVE
COMMUNITY

1. Inform the students that they are
to become involved in a class experiment,
and it is hoped that all students will be willing to
participate. Ask each student to contribute an
amount of money (not to exceed 50 cents)
to a general fund (ask a student to record the amount
given by each of the students in order that the
money can be returned after the
experiment.) After the money is collected and held for
safe-keeping by an appointed student the
class is told: As a class you are to decide upon
one student who is to receive the Fund and to
put it to the best use possible for the
good of the entire class. The class makes its selection.
(Optional: The selected person may decide what
to do with the money and report to the
class. The class might express an opinion on the suggested
action; if the class was displeased with the
choice, the students might select
someone else.) Class discussion should center on what
characteristics or behavior patterns were
considered when the students were told
to select someone to act upon their behalf with their money.
These personal qualities might be listed
on the chalkboard (perhaps refer right to
the several persons who might have been considered to use the
Fund) -- such as trustworthiness,
honesty, etc. Additional qualities of leadership
might be included in the list. (Note: Be sure
to return the change to each student
immediately after completing the exercise.)

2. Select two or three known leaders in the
community. Write their names on the
chalkboard. Under each name write those qualities that contribute
to that person's recognition as a
community leader. A second step might be to number
those characteristics from the most important to the least
important. Discussion might center on those
qualities, particularly on those which
would be important for corporation leadership.

3. The class might create a mural (magic
markers or poster paints) which illustrates
those qualities of leadership that can contribute to the
effective leadership by the staff of a business
corporation.

4. A speaker from one of the Native business
corporations might explain to the class
those qualities that are looked for in hiring corporation
staff the characteristic desired in
members of the board of directors. Expectations
for responsible stockholders might be discussed with the
students.

5. Students in pairs might be assigned the
task of writing a brief report that
explains the extent to which Alaska Native business
corporations formed as a result of the
settlement act are uniuqe organizations from the
common business corporation. (15 minutes) in
the total class setting discuss the ideas as they are reported
from each team.

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

ABORIGINAL RIGHTS LAND
OWNERSHIP

Ask each of the students to write an
interpretation to the following quotation: "Take our land, take our life." Ask
them to consider the statement in relation to the preservation of
land rights for the Alaska-Natives (15
minutes) Share the ideas in the class; use this exercise
as a bridge into reviewing the concept of
aboriginal rights. Compare one area of
Alaska to another in the way in which land and resources
were traditionally used. Compare land
use in Alaska with that of the ContinentalUnited States. Review
instances in Alaskan history where the aboriginal
rights have been protected by Congressional
statement. These illustrations might be
highlighted on a timeline drawn on poster paper or on the
chalkboard. With the class might be considered
two questions: (1) What provisions were
there in the Statehood Act for the Alaska Natives' land
rights to be protected? (2) What was the
federal government's position toward the
land rights of the Alaska Natives?

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

CORPORATION
STRUCTURE

1. With the class a diagram of a basic
business corporation structure might be
studied to observe the lines of responsibilities among the
various positions within the
corporation. (See the sample corporation structure
diagram in the teacher guide) Discuss the
relationship between the various segments
of the corporation. As a class, a specific business
corporation structure of a local
business corporation, Northern Commercial Company,
First National Bank etc. might be briefly
studied.

2. The Native regional corporations, unlike
most corporations, have unalienable
stock until 1991; that is, no one may sell his stock until
that time. Discuss the reasoning behind
this provision. Discuss what might happen
after 1991 if people sold stock. To whom might they sell it?
(Their grandchildren who did not get any under the original act
because they were born too late, for
instance; non-Natives; other big business, etc.)

3. This activity may span several class
sessions. Establish from one to three
corporations in your classroom. You might name them after the
Native regional corporations. Decide on
the following for each corporation:

a. officers to officiate at the
meeting

b. define goals from among the
following:

(1) provide jobs for
shareholders

(2) make money (maximize
profits)

(3) social welfare for
shareholders

(4) ensure the continuation of your
culture

(5) promote Native-owned small
businesses

(6) invest only in businesses which
are in accord with Native values of subsistence,
sharing, respect for the environment.

(7) etc.

c. Plan strategies to achieve these
goals.

4. Regroup into the corporation or
corporations formed the previous day. Distribute
the letters from shareholders to selected students (members
of the corporation). Have each in turn
read his letter. Have the corporation deal
with those issues.

5. As a class, discuss how each
shareholder's letter reflects a real concern
of shareholders in today's Native regional corporations.
Discuss how the corporations dealt with
these questions, given the goals previously established.

6. Have each student research one of the
Native Regional corporations and do a
report on it. You might allow students to work in groups of two
or three. This might be a good time to
call a shareholder/resource person from Doyon
to speak in your classroom.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES - Shareholders
Letters

Villagetow, Alaska
December 17, 1982

Board of Directors

___________
Corporation

Dear Sirs:

I read in our annual report that
you are investing in an oil well near
our village. I guess that could make us a lot of money. but
I wonder if you've stopped to consider
the harm it might do to our hunting. As
you know, the caribou herd has been decreasing lately. Proposed
roads leading to the oil well will go
right through their winter grounds. Also, the
area where the oil well will be placed is prime trapping for
us.

Muskrat and beaver live there and
would surely be destroyed by a big oiloperation. Your "experts" tell us there
will be no harm to the herd and animals.
You never ask us; we are the real experts here and we
oppose without consultation to our
elders.

I thought our corporations were
supposed to operate for the good of the people.
How do you explain yourselves?

Sincerely,

Disgruntled Shareholder II

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES - Shareholders
Letters

Big City, Alaska
December 17, 1982

Board of Directors

_______________ Corporation

Dear Sirs:

Why haven't I gotten any dividend checks
from you? I voted for you because I
thought you knew about making money. In the paper I read that
our corporation is one of the most
successful of the Regional corporations; and yet,
I haven't gotten anything out of it. Why not? I assure you that I
will not vote for you again and I have
eleven children whose proxies I hold. If this
situation doesn't change you will be out!

Sincerely,

Disgruntled Shareholder
I

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES - Shareholders
Letters

Anywhere, Alaska
December 17, 1982

Board of Directors

_______________ Corporation

Dear Sirs:

My whole family is writing this letter
together because we are all in the same
boat. Our education levels range from Gramma, with a 4th
grade education, to me, with a college degree.
And yet, not one of us can understand
our annual report. How much money do we have? Who decides
what to invest in? Just how does the
corporation work, anyway? Why is your salary
so high? And why do you have to sit up there in those fancy
high-rise offices where no one can talk to you?
When I call up to talk to one of you,
I'm told you're "in conference".

I think you're losing touch with your
shareholders, and my whole family agrees.

Sincerely,

Disgruntled Shareholder VI-XII

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES - Shareholders
Letters

Smalltown, Alaska
December 17, 1982

Board of Directors

______________ Corporation

Dear Sirs:

It's no secret that the top management in
our corporation is mostly made up of
non-Natives. I could understand the reason for this in the first
years of the corporation; then there
were very few Natives trained in the business
world. But here it is, eleven years after ANCSA has passed, and
we are in the same situation. I'll be
graduating from high school this year and
would like to work for the corporation; but I don't know much
about business, what to invest in to
make money, how to figure profit margin, or any
of those things. I think our corporation should be training a
person like me so that I, and others
like me, can move into those positions now held
by non-shareholders. You don't seem to have done anything about
this, though. Let's get
moving!

Sincerely,

Disgruntled Shareholder
V

HOW HAS YOUR NATIVE CORPORATION INVESTED ITS
MONEY?

DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:

Students will become involved in the
regional corporation's use of funds

STRATEGIES:

Obtain copies of the corporation
minutes or invite corporation officers to the
class to find out how the corporation has invested its
money.

Are the investments ones that will yield a
high percentage of return?

Are they low-risk or high risk
investments?

Do they provide opportunities for Native
businessmen?

Do they provide jobs for Natives?

Do they afford a chance for Native workers
to train and upgrade their skills?

In your thinking, how important are the
abovementioned criteria? What other questions
would you ask in making a decision on an investment?

WHAT RESOURCES ARE IN THE DOYON
REGION?

DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOM:

Students will become involved in the
regional corporation's plans for development
of natural resources.

STRATEGIES:

Using references and asking people,
find out what renewable and non-renewable
resources are found in the Doyon region.

To what extent do you think these resources
should be developed? What trade-offs
must a community make in order to "develop"?

In small groups, make plans for wise
development of the region's natural resources
over a period of time.

Among the plans presented, select one or
more that the class likes best. Calculate
how much (what percentages) of profits the region would get
to retain and how much would go to other
corporations.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE FROM ALASKA NATIVE
EDUCATION

The Alaska Native Education Program maintains
an extensive library including resource books, teacher guides,
student books, maps, etc. These materials are available to the
classroom teacher to supplement the study of Alaska in the classroom.
We encourage teacher's use of these materials; and extend assistance
in planning their use in the classroom. Following is a list of ANCSA
related teacher materials now available through the Alaska Native
Education library. Due to the current issues which ANCSA represents,
our list of resources is constantly growing. Please contact the
library for these materials or to ask questions related to the ANCSA
course in your classroom.

9. Frey, Lucille. The Learning Tree,
Teaching Ideas for the Alaska Claims Settlement Act. (1976) A
collection of activities for classroom use to enhance the study of
Land Claims, and the nature (???-Native) people of Alaska.

12. Hays, Lydia. "ANCSA 1981: A Snapshot of
Today. " (1981) a slide presentation and narrative cassette (done
by a Fairbanks high school student) updating current investments and
economics of Native corporations.